The son of a 69-year-old man killed in his apartment building office in Waikiki more than 20 years ago is seeking the public’s help to find the suspect or suspects responsible for his father’s death.
“If we could solve this case, that would be awesome. It would be good to know that there is some justice that’s taking place because we all suffered with the loss, and whoever did this needs to pay for it,” said Samuel “Sam” Gilbert III at a news conference Thursday at the Honolulu Police Department’s main headquarters.
The Police Department’s Cold Case Unit is investigating the case of Samuel “Sam” Gilbert Jr., president of the Kapuni Development Corp., who was found dead in his Waikiki Whaler apartment building office at 232 Kaiulani Ave. just before 2 p.m. June 30, 1998.
His brother found him unresponsive in his second-floor office with multiple stab wounds, according to Detective Mike Ogawa of the Cold Case Unit.
Police think the deadly stabbing occurred sometime between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. when people in the building heard glass breaking. Two louver panels were found broken in Gilbert’s office.
Some items were also taken from the office, but Ogawa declined to describe them.
The building, which is now called Waikiki Whale Watcher, did not have a camera system at the time.
“Detectives at the time followed up on several leads and interviewed dozens of potential witnesses, but no suspects were identified,” he said. Other detectives looked into the case again in 2006, but Gilbert’s slaying remains unsolved.
Gilbert described his father as a great businessman who was kind and gentle. A fan of comedians George Burns, Jimmy Durante and Bob Hope, Gilbert wrote his own material and entertained family and friends with his jokes. “He was always kind of the joker at the table,” his son said.
Gilbert’s son said, “We’re hoping somebody is out there that could help us with this, somebody that saw something, somebody that may be having some internal conflict over what they saw or witnessed something.”
Anyone with information on the case may send information to the Cold Case Unit at bit.ly/2Y7adl0.
Tipsters who wish to remain anonymous may call CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.
